Coming in to roost

  

I went out to check on the grill tonight and looked up to see some White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus) flying overhead.  If you've been following this blog for a while, you might recall that in some years we've seen kites roosting in our neighborhood.  We haven't seen this roosting activity in a while, but maybe this will be one of those years?

Around 7 p.m., there were several young kites flying east to west.  Here's a close-up showing the rust-colored feathers across the breast:

 

 

I was also somewhat surprised to see a darker looking raptor around the same time.  When I saw it out of the corner of my eye, I could tell it wasn't a kite, but I wasn't sure about the i.d.  I only had my camera (no binoculars), so I took a couple of quick shots.

I think this is the first time I've photographed a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) flying over our house in Cotati (see below).

 

A fun few minutes in the backyard — and I'm lucky I didn't burn the fish!

 

 

P.S.  To see more photos of kites coming to roost in our neighborhood in previous years, you can search for "kite" or "kite roost" in the search box at the very bottom of the NHBH website.

 

Storm clouds at sunset

I was driving home from work and looked west at the lingering storm clouds when a flock of birds caught my eye.  I wasn't sure what they were at first, so I pulled over to look more closely.

Eventually I figured out that they were kites — a group of at least eight birds flying over the dunes.  Perhaps they were headed to a roost site somewhere? 

Kites in silhouette are attractive enough on their own, but with the stormy lighting, it was a dramatic scene:

 

 

P.S.  Looks like we received ~1 inch of rain in Bodega Bay today.

In appreciation of flight

Last night (21 October 2019) I spent a few more minutes watching one of the White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus) that's been actively hunting on Bodega Head at the end of the day.  The lighting was beautiful up high where the kite was hovering, but it was shaded down low where I was standing, so I don't think the kite noticed me.  Several times it was hovering almost directly above me.  The views were pretty special, and I couldn't choose a favorite photo, so here's a selection.  Enjoy!  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful lines

 

At the end of the day today I had a lucky encounter with a young White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus).  Such a beautiful bird!

 

 

 

 

View from the top

 

A quick shot of a White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) at the top of a redwood tree in our neighborhood tonight (29 July 2018).

Kite in the clouds

I was sitting inside last night when I thought I heard a White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) calling outside.  I stepped out to confirm that it was a kite, and sure enough, a kite was displaying in the sky above our house — calling and fluttering its wings with its legs lowered.  And there was a bonus — the clouds were amazing!  Perhaps you saw some of these clouds, too?

 

Photographed in Cotati on 12 July 2018

 

Two of the locals

Nice views of two local raptors in the Bodega Dunes today (7 November 2017):

 

Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

 

White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus)

Neighborhood kites

Lots of chores today, so not much time for pictures.  But here are a couple of kite photos from the past week.

Circling overhead on the way to the roost site:

 

Gathering in one of the tallest trees on our street.  How many kites can you find?  (Hint: Some are on the far side of the tree.)  Click on the photo for a larger version:

 

I'm sure about 8 kites, and there might be 9 (see below):

 

Kites at sunset

Not much time tonight, but here are a few more pictures of White-tailed Kites just before heading to a roost site for the night on 17 September 2017.  (Click on the images for larger versions.)

A beautiful immature bird, with rusty coloration on the breast, white-edged feathers behind the "black shoulder", and gray at the back of the head.  (The eyes are also darker than those of an adult.)

 

Below, the immature kite turns to watch another individual trying to land nearby.  This is a good look at the underwing pattern (and the tail feathers being molted — note the different lengths of the feathers).

 

A kite soaring overhead with just a hint of the setting sun:

 

Late summer night

Just a few quick shots of the White-tailed Kites coming in to roost tonight (16 September 2017):

 

 

 

Since the kites fly in just before sunset, the light is quite dim.  I don't have the right camera lens for these conditions, so most of my shots are blurry, but even so, I can't help sharing this one (below).  I love that you can still see the coloration of the young bird on the right — the beautiful rust color on the breast and the grayish cap:

 

There were interesting conditions and behaviors tonight.  It was one of those late summer nights that makes you want to linger outside, and the kites seemed to think so, too!  They perched high on the trees overlooking the roost site, kept circling around high above, and they stayed out until it was almost too dark to see them.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to spend time watching kites!

 

Stormy light and swirling kites

Interesting sky and weather tonight!

Dark storm clouds moved in just before sunset, accompanied by strong, swirling breezes.  The White-tailed Kites that have been roosting nearby responded by arriving at the roost site earlier than usual, soaring much higher than usual, and flying in to the roost site very fast at a very steep angle.  

 

 

 

 

It looked like there were some rain showers up high:

 

And then some intriguing rainbows surrounded by a rosy blush appeared to the east:

 

Not too long after, the sun lit up the western clouds:

 

It's raining now.  Will there be thunder tonight?

 

Gathering at dusk

 

Just a quick note about the White-tailed Kites that have been roosting in our neighborhood.  When it was so hot and hazy last weekend, we didn't see them at all.  But now that the weather has changed, I'm happy to report that they've returned!

This year, the kites seem to be roosting in different places, but there's a tall tree near our house where some of them gather before heading to a roost site.  It's so nice to see them, if only for a few minutes.

Quite a night

Well, I didn't expect to post about kites again so soon, but it was a fun night to watch them and I photographed some interesting behaviors.

The moon was in a nice location for some of these pictures:

 

Some of the kites perch on the tallest trees before flying down to the roost site.  This kite sat on top of very tall redwood tree, perhaps 70 feet high? 

This individual seemed a little protective of its perch.  It would watch other approaching kites very closely, sometimes posturing towards them.  The next photo show the kite turning to face the incoming individual and opening its bill (I'm not sure if it made a sound; I didn't hear anything.)

 

When another kite approached, the perched kite would often start flicking its tail dramatically.  Is tail-flicking a signal to stay away?  [ADDENDUM: I just read about this.  According to the Birds of North America, "tail bobs" are apparently threats to intrusions by other raptors.]

 

Several times the kite had other avian visitors.  Can you make out the identity of the other bird in the photo below?

 

Did you guess hummingbird?  It is probably an Anna's Hummingbird.  I don't know if the hummingbird was curious about the kite, or if it was interested in trying to make the kite move on. 

As in 2015, sometimes crows swing by to chase the kites:

 

 

Two more photos to wrap-up —  these kites were directly overhead as they flew west towards their roost site:

 

 

Quite a night!

They're back!

Remember the posts about the White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus) during the fall of 2015?  We didn't see them last year, but a few kites have returned to roost in our neighborhood this year.

Here's one photo from 27 August 2017 (perched at the top of a redwood tree):

 

And another from 28 August 2017 (flying by on the way to the roost site around sunset):

 

To review some of the previous posts about communal roosting behavior in White-tailed Kites, see the following posts:

"Under and over the moon" on 17 September 2015

"Questions" on 5 October 2015

"Tracking" on 29 October 2015